Australia working to harness Quad capabilities to enhance resilience of Indo-Pacific supply chains: PM Morrison

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday said that country is working to harness Quad members' capabilities to enhance the resilience of Indo-Pacific supply chains and foster an open, accessible and secure technology ecosystem.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday said that country is working to harness Quad members' capabilities to enhance the resilience of Indo-Pacific supply chains and foster an open, accessible and secure technology ecosystem. "Together with India, Japan and the United States, Australia is working to harness our respective nations' capabilities to enhance the resilience of Indo-Pacific supply chains and foster an open, accessible and secure technology ecosystem," Morrison said at Sydney Dialogue for "Deepening technology Partnership among Quad countries.

During the speech at the inaugural Sydney Dialogue on emerging, critical and cyber technologies, he said that within the Quad, Australia is working to bolster critical infrastructure resilience against cyber threats, benchmarking against international best practices. "We're also working within the Quad to bolster critical infrastructure resilience against cyber threats, benchmarking against international best practice," he said.

"Our time of rapid technological change is no different. It corresponds with profound global challenges - from the immediate threats posed by COVID-19 and related economic disruption to climate change and geostrategic competition," he added. Underlining that technology helps in greater capacity to influence the norms and values that will shape technological development in the years to come, he emphasized, "Technology is at the centre of how we now respond to all these challenges. The simple fact is that nations at the leading edge of technology have greater economic, political and military power. Nowhere is this more powerfully illustrated than in the Indo-Pacific region -- the world's strategic centre of gravity."

"At September's first in-person Quad Leaders Meeting in Washington DC, we agreed to strengthen lines of effort across a number of very important areas, including, Technical standards, 5G deployment and diversification and detailed horizon scanning and mapping, with an immediate focus on supply chain security for semiconductors and their vital components, as well as exploring opportunities for cooperation on advanced bio-technologies," he said. Speaking about AUKUS, the Australian Prime Minister said to remain a free, open, sovereign and prosperous nation AUKUS countries need strong and durable partnerships more than ever.

"In September, I announced alongside US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the new AUKUS enhanced trilateral security partnership. This is a partnership based fundamentally on trust and shared interests. A partnership where, guided by our enduring ideals and shared commitment to the international rules-based order, for democratic freedoms, we have resolved to deepen our diplomatic, security and defence cooperation in the Indo-Pacific," he said. "AUKUS will see Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States promote deeper information sharing; foster greater integration of security and defence-related science, technology, industrial bases and supply chains; and strengthen our cooperation in advanced and critical technologies and capabilities," he added.

He also said that the officials will report back to leaders within 90 days of our announcement with a proposed AUKUS work plan. "AUKUS is a broad and adaptable partnership that will drive our technology and capability cooperation to meet the challenges of the 21st century in our region, the Indo-Pacific region," he said.

Morrison informed that he will be speaking at the Bengaluru Tech Summit today and will expand on some of the complementary initiatives with India. (ANI)

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